AN: Just a small note. The song that Roll sings in this chapter is from Fairy Tail's Episode 12, when Lyra sings. It's a very short song, but I loved to hear it. I would have preferred to write it down in the romanji version, but I don't have it. Also, the lines in italic in Roll's dream are just an effect that I wanted to put to emphasize her words. It's not thoughts, it's all spoken words. Enjoy the chapter.

-FLM-

Chapter 9 – Measuring the Enemy

During his break from monitoring Roll's systems, Yuuichiro, Netto's father, decided to grab one of his books on Net Navis and resume where he had left off before. He put the bookmarker next to his filled coffee mug, and then calmly turned the page, where something caught his attention right away. It was a paragraph about Memory Files, in the Memory section of the book. The doctor leaned into the book a little, as if to read it better.

"Hmm…" he made the thinking expression that only he can do and kept reading closely. He held the book with his left hand and held his chin with his right hand.

It was written in the book that if a Navi held no will to remember his, or her, past memories, then the Navi would never be able to retrieve those recollections. Even if they eventually came to remember later on themselves, his/her Memory System would not be able to acknowledge the old memoirs again. Then, if such a thing were to happen, the Memory System itself in time would automatically start to delete the rejected memories. The adult blinked once in wonder and then looked at Roll inside a Scan Sphere, where the two thick metal circles rounded her to check for any bugs and system errors. The female Navi seemed calm and serene, like nothing was wrong. The adult frowned slightly, not due to anger, but to worry.

"I wonder if you'll have the will to remember everything again…" he said calmly, returning to his book, where he found something else he was looking for. "… Like I thought. He should be careful as well…" he said to himself, as he read.

-FLM-

"Sakurai?" a voice asked, with clear surprise.

Meiru shrank her shoulders up a little and then turned herself to see who was calling for her. When she saw who it was, she automatically softened, because it was someone she knew. Not exactly who she would want to talk with, but still someone she was familiar with.

"Enzan?" Meiru blinked once at the sight of the other teenager.

"Came to bring Roll to more exams again?" the dual haired boy asked with his weak smile.

"Ah, yeah…" Meiru looked to the side with a different expression.

Enzan almost missed the slight change in the girl's approach, but he did see it. His powers of observation were so keen sometimes. The girl portrayed an expression that contained both sadness and something else, which he could not tell clearly.

"Is… everything alright, Sakurai?" Enzan asked again, somewhat reluctant. He wasn't too sure if he should be meddling into the redhead's personal issues, since they didn't knew each other that well and all, but his hidden natural worry for the others made him question.

"Hm. Yes. Everything's fine." Meiru quickly turned towards Enzan and nodded her head up and down twice with her so usual smile.

Enzan knew right away that she was lying. He had enough training to be able to tell when someone wasn't speaking the truth. He clearly knew but he chose to not mention anything, thinking she might not want to talk about it, or might not want him to 'butt in', as some would say. He looked at her while she smiled and he couldn't help his reflex to pull up his weak smile again.

"Alright. If you say so." unaware of it, he almost showed his worry with his answer.

He moved and sat down in the chair that was across from hers, on the other side of the coffee table. He had a book with him as well, a thick one at that. He calmly placed his red bookmarker over the table as he opened it.

"Ah?" but Meiru did understand, though.

She somehow knew that he could tell she lied. But she didn't want him to worry about her, him or anyone else for that matter. There were so many other things much, much more, important than her little depression currently going on. Unaware of it, she sighed lowly, which didn't go unnoticed for Enzan, but he did not react towards it. While the girl was musing over her issues, her sad expression seemed to return to her face. She had placed her book over her thighs and didn't seem to be reading it. She looked like she was dozing off. Enzan did notice this time around, because she sighed in a slightly louder tone.

"So, what are you currently reading, Sakurai?" the dual-haired boy asked, while looking at his book.

"Ah, um…" Meiru stuttered as she held up her book's cover for him to see. "It's called Codex 362. I began reading it about a week ago. It seems nice so far." She said with her smile.

"Ou, I know the book. I read it once before." he commented, turning a page on his book. "Trust me; that is one good reading."

"Ah, lovely." she smiled again, before the two dove back into their books.

As the two teenagers began reading again, the silence became almost heavenly to Meiru, while it remained unchanged to Enzan, since he was used to the silence. She was glad she was able to rest her sanity for a little while. She was reading so focused that she did not notice the other boy gazing at her from his seat. The expression he held was his neutral one, but there was another touch to it. There was also a hint of worry in him. Well, anyone would worry if the other person looked as gloomy as if she were grieving for a lost pet. Enzan decided to not bother Meiru, knowing she probably wanted to be left alone, so he lowered his gaze back to his book. A few moments after, as a natural reflex she always had, Meiru pulled her head upwards to look around, something she did very often. She noticed that Enzan seemed to be as focused on his book as she was, well, or tried to be. She was really trying to read her book, but she couldn't. The only thing she wanted was to talk her mind out. Speak to someone rationally and express what she was really feeling. She thought that he would much likely prefer to read his book than listen to her girly complaints about loneliness. So, the redhead lowered her head back to her book. The only thing that followed them was the silence of unspoken words. The only sound that could be heard was the pages turning.

-FLM-

"Damn it, there's just no end to these guys!" Rockman breathed out, as he deleted what seemed to be the 100th virus. He almost tripped on his feet when an electrified Mettaur sat behind him, but he quickly deleted that one as well. "Ugh, damn you all!" he said with a small angry voice.

The warehouse was large, but he never thought that so many tiny viruses could be so well packed up inside there. Truth be told, he was getting rather tired, shooting virus after virus, but there was no way he could stop now, or else it was the end for him. Plus, it didn't seem like the viruses were going to stop charging at him anytime soon. Still, it wasn't a horde of small-rated viruses like this that was going to bring him down. On the outside, the two forms watched the blue Navi from the tree.

"Ne, ne, he's getting tired already." the crouching Navi said with an evil smirk from one hearing sensor to the other.

"Hm… Looks like the big hot shot Rockman is not capable to deal with a few amounts of viruses at the same time." The other one spoke.

"Ne, ne, Terraman, can I delete him now?" the crouching Navi asked.

"No, Kald. Not quite yet." 'Terraman' said. "Our leader wants him alive, as it is for the other Navi as well." He explained.

"But why?" 'Kald' asked, somewhat depressed.

"He wants to be the one to delete Rockman himself. And in the worst possible way, I must say." Terraman explained calmly crossing his arms.

"Then, why doesn't he go after him himself?" Kald asked with a pout.

"I guess you could say he's… recovering from his vacation at the Net Recycle area. His strength isn't quite at the fullest just yet, so he must remain in the backstage for now." Terraman explained.

"Eeh, I don't understand any of it…" Kald looked bored to some much explanation. "I want to delete something…" he added looking a little dazed.

While Kald looked around for something to delete, Terraman examined Rockman from afar. He wasn't really impressed with the blue Navi's strength, but to be fair, he could tell that the other one wasn't even trying. Terraman knew that Rockman was much, much stronger than what he was showing. He had seen before in his battle with the Leader. He could tell that the blue Navi was slow on his feet and reflexes, probably the reason why he was already filled with several cuts and bruises all over his body. He was perfectly aware that Rockman had much more powerful Battle-Chips available to use, even within Net City, but he chose to use his standard Buster against this horde of viruses. He could also tell that he wasn't 100% focused on the battle –more like 45%–; so therefore, Rockman could have only one thing on his mind.

"… Love will guide you to cultivate emotions, Rockman. And these emotions of yours will lead you towards distractions, which consequently will make you weak. You must be aware of that when you go out for a battle. You must be void of all feelings if you want to battle properly…" Terraman spoke lowly, looking at his target with an empty expression. "How could anyone say this low excuse of a Navi is the great Rockman that defeated so many Darkloids? How pathetic. He won't even be able to reach the gates at this rate." He said to himself, with a scowl.

-FLM-

While Roll was still inside the Scan Sphere, she had drifted into a sleep mode once more. In her dream, she was in the middle of a flower ground. It was filled with several colors, purple flowers; yellow; red; pink and white flowers, all extending as far as the eye could see. The sky above her was blue with a white cloud here and there. There weren't trees to either side this time. As Roll was in awe with the pretty sight before her, someone stood behind her.

"Hello, Roll-chan." The figure said gently. "We finally meet again…" he smiled with a gentle voice.

"Ah, it's you again, Sir." Roll said, holding her hands behind her back with a smile.

The pink Navi turned around and saw him again. He was wearing a white colored chemise and trousers, and it made Roll think that he looked like an angel of some story she had read before. He had his mask covering his face again, but strangely, it seemed that he was smiling somehow. He had two spikes of black hair in each side of his head, and he wasn't wearing a helmet either. Over his forehead there were shorter bangs of hair that flew from side to side with the wind. Roll then noticed that she also was wearing a strapless white dress, leaving her shoulders bare. The dress itself was slightly tight against her torso, but over her waist, it enlarged and ended a little before her knees. There was a bow on the left side of her chest, all white. She wondered why she wasn't wearing her pink plug-suit like usual, but said nothing. She did think for herself that her dress was rather pretty to look at. She didn't notice, but her helmet was also white, along with the bow in the lower part of her hair piece.

"You don't have to call me Sir, Roll-chan. You know me, after all." The white figure chuckled a bit, catching the female Navi's attention easily.

The white mask he kept was still there, covering his face, and it didn't seem like it would fall so soon. Why he was hiding his face like that was something she wondered to herself as she tilted her head to the side gently.

"I do?" she then asked. "But, I don't remember you…" She added with a sad tone.

The male Navi across from her let out a gentle laugh, which made Roll blink a few times.

"It's okay to not remember me for now, Roll-chan." He spoke with a solemn voice. "But know this… If you don't remember everything soon, I'm afraid it will be too late…"

"Too late? What do you mean by that?" Roll inquired as she leaned forward with a curious face.

"Would you sing for me?" the figure requested suddenly. "Like you used to?" it wasn't visible, but it was clear that he was smiling then.

"Sing?" Roll piped up blushing slightly. "N-Now?" she fidgeted with her hands and waved her body from side to side, like an embarrassed child would.

"Yes… Will you?" the figure requested again with a nod, taking a few steps closer to her.

Roll did not notice it, but the Navi kept his hands on his pockets all the time. Still somewhat fidgeting with her fingertips, the pink Navi looked at the figure with a small blush. She had recalled a few days before that she used to sing. What she thought weird at the time was that she knew that she used to sing to someone that used to be with her always, but she still could not tell who it was. In her memory, the other Navi's face was always turned around, so he never really faced her directly. She often wondered who it was, but ended up forgetting about it completely when she looked at the figure that stood before her. He was just a step away from her and Roll noticed that he had about the same height as she did, being probably an inch or so taller than her. Plus, when did he moved so close to her? Roll looked at his mask again and noticed that it was very simple in terms of design. It had only two yellow curved strings, one above his left eye and another below his right eye. As she looked at him still, she wondered what the color of his eyes was. She blinked once sheepishly and lowered her gaze, until she was looking down at her feet. The fact that she was also wearing white ballet shoes didn't seem to bother the female Navi as she stood there. It felt like she was dazed or something of the sort. Just like a reflex, and without her full awareness, Roll shifted her head upwards, towards the male figure. She then closed her eyes and took a breath in. Then, softly hummed words began to exit her lips...

"Born words… dying words… words, which live on inside of you…"

The figure seemed to be at ease as he heard the female Navi. His shoulders seemed to relax significantly at the soft and clean sound of her vocal cords. Back in Sci Labs, Netto's father was still reading his book until something seemed to catch his attention.

"Time remains, turning itself into courage..."

"Hm?" the doctor blinked twice, as Roll's soft voice echoed in the room. "What… is this sound?" it took him a second, maybe two, before he realized that the one that was singing was actually Roll. He quickly set the monitor to record the images and sound.

"Come, contemplate... You'll be even stronger..."

The doctor watched as she calmly sang while still sleeping. He did not understand this. When Navis sleep, they do not dream, nor talk. And yet, this one female Navi in question was actually singing. Singing implies talking, and talking implies dreaming. He was sure that one would never sing in the darkness, so it was clear that Roll was dreaming within her sleep.

"It's time to find yourself... and believe in the words that were told you..."

Back in Roll's dream, the female Navi resumed her singing and then looked towards the male figure again with a blush on her cheeks, something she was unaware of.

"Very well, Roll-chan." The male figure pulled his hands out of his pockets and clapped a few times softly. "I see you still got it." He chuckled again.

"Aah, t-thank you…" the blush on her face deepened at his warm words. She began fidgeting with her fingertips again, still feeling embarrassed. She looked at his hands and noticed something. "Ah, your hands…!" she exclaimed, holding hers over her mouth, as if she had said something wrong.

"Oh, these…" the figure said, looking at his hands, to which he swiftly replaced them over his pockets. "Do not worry about it, Roll-chan." He smiled at her, even though his face was not visible.

"But..." Roll began with a pout.

Suddenly, the figure looked to his left lower side, and his shoulders suddenly tightened again. He then looked back at Roll, who now held somewhat of a worried expression. It seemed like his expression softened when he gazed at her again, but since he kept his mask, she would never see it.

"Well, this has been a wonderful meeting, but I'm afraid I must take my leave for now." He commented, beginning to step away from Roll.

"B-But…!" she tried to speak, but he stopped her.

"Don't, Roll-chan, don't follow me. You have to wake up now." He affirmed, turning away and taking a few steps. Before he disappeared, he only said one thing else. "It is certain that we'll see each other again. Don't worry, because I'm never too far away. Don't wander off too far. I'll be back. I promise."

End of chapter 9

AN: This chapter has been revised and edited for minor grammar errors.